Hoosiers Use Bird's Eye View to Help Learn Another Level of Football

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana quarterback Connor Bazelak missed his first snaps as the Hoosiers’ quarterback last Saturday against Penn State. The transfer from Missouri had been beat up physically and mentally all season after being sacked 22 times over the seasons first eight games. While Bazelak did not suit up for the game, he did get another view of it. A bird’s eye view from the coaching box.

“Connor has always been playing. He's never been a backup. He's never really had an opportunity to go to the press box. While he was beat up pretty good, we were going to hold him to try to get him as healthy as we could. I think the first thing you realize when you go the press box is just how much slower the game really is than it looks when you're playing it.” Indiana’s offensive coordinator Walt Bell said on Monday.

This is nothing new for the Indiana quarterbacks room. True freshman Brendan Sorsby has also been up in the press box to try and accelerate his development when he did not dress for games.

The Hoosiers have gone as Bazelak has gone. Over the first three games of the season, three IU wins, Bazelak was productive and showed the abilities that won him the starting job. He took better care of the ball and completed a higher percentage of passes. However, the pressure put on him by the defense has led to him throwing more interceptions and not being as consistent or accurate with his throws. As his play has declined, the Hoosiers’ chances of winning have gone with them.

“I think it's a great learning experience because you learned that there's levels to the mental game of football and you also understand that the game is much slower than sometimes you think it is. And I think being in the press box far away and separated from it kind of helps you realize that.” Bell emphasized.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen announced that Bazelak would be the starter against Ohio State and it’s a tall task in a game that IU is a 40-point underdog. Bazelak has had a chance to see the big picture from up top. Now it is time to see if those lessons have paid off.